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SPARTANBURG — Detrez Newsome followed one highly successful season with another, but the Western Carolina University running back sees only the season ahead.

“I’ve got a lot of room to improve, and working over the summer has done a lot for me,” he said Tuesday during the Southern Conference media day.

Another step up would be good for the Catamounts, not so good for those trying to contain the 5-foot-10, 210-pound senior.

Newsome is coming off a season in which he rushed for 1,031 yards and led the FCS with a SoCon-record 2,343 all-purpose-yards (213 per game).

The Raeford native did that on the heels of a sophomore season in which he rushed for 1,109 yards and led the SoCon with 161.7 all-purpose yards per game.

“He’s consistency,” Western Carolina coach Mark Speir said. “You don’t just show up and you’re great every day. Greatness comes through consistency, doing the little things over, and over, and over and over, not getting tired of doing the little things right, and that’s who Detrez is.

“He’s not a flashy guy. He doesn’t talk a lot. He’s not a showboat guy. He’s a consistent guy who has talent, but he consistently uses that talent. That’s why he’s become the player he is.”

And that’s why he’s become a role model to his teammates.

“We’re not telling them about a guy on TV or a guy in another program,” Speir said. “Our guys see what he does, and his leadership by example has been huge for us, and he’s got to continue to do that as a senior.”

Newsome was a first-team American Football Coaches Association and Associated Press All-American in 2016, but WCU went 2-9.

In a microcosm of the Catamounts’ season, Newsome collected a school-record 365 all-purpose yards (third-most in SoCon history) in his team’s 41-33 loss at South Carolina.

“I definitely feel like this team will be better than last year,” Newsome said. “That 2-9 season really put a burden on our shoulders. It gave us something to go out and work for.”